Standing Bear Is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice

by Stephen Dando-Collins

Book Overview

In 1877, Standing Bear and his Indian people, the Ponca, were forcibly removed from their land in northern Nebraska. In defiance, Standing Bear sued in U.S. District Court for the right to return home. In a landmark case, the judge, for the first time in U.S. history, recognized Native American rights-acknowledging that "Standing Bear is a person"-and ruled in favor of Standing Bear. Standing Bear Is a Person is the fascinating behind-the-scenes story...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 030681370X
• ISBN13: 9780306813702
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Great Story With Fascinating Historical Characters

Dee Brown wrote a chapter on the case in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, but it was a story that needed fleshing out. Gen. Crook, Thomas Tibbles and the Omaha Indian Bright Eyes are all fascinating characters on their own, and their stories converge in one of the most important legal cases in Native American history. I bought Standing Bear is a Person to see if Dando-Collins did service to this fascinating story. For those who don't know, Standing Bear was a Ponca Indian who along with his people were forced out of their homeland in northwest Nebraska and resettled under god-awful conditions in Indian Territory (Now Oklahoma). He and a small band of his followers escaped and made their way north in an effort to bury the remains of his son on their ancestral lands. He was captured, but the crusading journalist Tibbles, took up his cause along with Gen. Crook, Bright Eyes and some powerful Nebraska attorneys. They all came together to help Standing Bear sue for his right to be considered a "person" rather than a ward of the state, in the eyes of the law. I'm happy to say that Dando-Collins did an outstanding job of telling this story, portraying the characters and keeping the narrative flowing. It made me proud to be a Nebraskan. Over and over again, sympathetic whites from the state rallied to the Ponca cause. I'm sure there were plenty in the 1870s and 1880s who had animosity for the Nebraska tribes. In fact, most Native Americans were kicked out of the state by the time this account took place. But many Omaha citizens saw the injustice here and did what they could to right a wrong. A few years ago, the Republicans in the Nebraska legislature had the opportunity to put Standing Bear on the back of the state quarter. They sadly passed up the opportunity. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a great narrative nonfiction. Stew Magnuson Author of "The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder."

A "Must Read" for anyone interested in Native American history

It took me about 30 pages to get into this book, but I was hooked from then on. Despite extensive reading about Native American history, I had never known the process or participants involved in granting Native people their rights as citizens. This book is factual, thought-provoking, and alternately sad and uplifting, but most of all it is interesting. The chapter about the trial, which ends with Standing Bear's address to Judge Dundy and the courtroom audience, made me cry. If Native Americans were considered savages, then what were we. The simple eloquence of this "PERSON" , his wisdom and the true humanity he posessed can be found in his words documented in this book. An excellent read and a "Keeper".

First-Rate story

A friend recommended this book, and I am glad that I read it. This is a heart-felt tale of human determination to right a terrible injustice. The story of how American Indians came to be recognized by the courts as humans, and hence worthy of asserting their rights, is particularly timely in this era of indefinite detentions of "enemy combatants."

A compelling story

I prefer novels, but my book group 'makes' me read historical works every so often. And, I'm glad, because otherwise I would not know the incredible story of Standing Bear. Actually, this is the story of the many people who sought justice for the Native Americans. From an army general, to a newspaper editor, to clergy, to attorneys - many people fought for the rights of the Standing Bear. As a Presbyterian minister, living in Nebraska, this book makes me proud of the ancestors that have gone before me.

Courtroom Drama with a Wealth of Background Info

You have to be a person to go to court. No matter what their actions horses, dogs and the like don't go to court. Neither did slaves, and until Standing Bear neither did an American Indian. This book is a courtroom drama, backed up by a tremendous amount of background information on indian life in the late 1800's along the American western frontier. It's not a pretty tale, most of what happened to the indians was not pretty, but it's the truth as best we know it.